For
further information, materials and on-going work, please
refer to NearLab
website.

The ACTIVE project exploits ICT and other engineering methods
and technologies for the design anddevelopment of an
integrated redundant robotic platform for neurosurgery. A
light and agile redundant roboticcell with 20
degrees-of-freedom (DoFs) and an advanced processing unit for
pre- and intra-operative control willoperate both
autonomously and cooperatively with surgical staff on the
brain.As the patient will not be considered rigidly fixed to
the operating table and/or to the robot, the system will
pushthe boundaries of the state of the art in the fields of
robotics and control for the accuracy and bandwidth
requiredby the challenging and complex surgical scenario.Two cooperating robots will interact with
the brain that will deform for the tool contact, blood
pressure, breathing and deliquoration. Human
factors are considered by allowing easy interaction with the
users through a novelhaptic interface for tele-manipulation
and by a collaborative control mode ("hands-on").
Active constraints will limit and direct tool tip position,
force and speedpreventing damage to eloquent areas, defined
on realistic tissue models updated on-the-field through
sensorsinformation. The active constraints will be updated
(displaced) in real time in response to the feedback
fromtool-tissue interactions and any additional constraints
arising from a complex shared workspace. The
overarchingcontrol architecture of ACTIVE will negotiate the
requirements and references of the two slave robots.The
operative room represents the epitome of a dynamic and
unstructured volatile environment, crowded withpeople and
instruments. The workspace will thus be monitored by environmental
cameras, and machine learning techniques
will be used for the safe workspace sharing. Cognitive skills
will help to identify the target location in the brain and
constrain robotic motionsby means of on-field observations.